Friday Morning Open Thread

Interesting story: CVS announced it would stop selling tobacco products, and other pharmacies are expected to follow suit, according to USA Today. Very rarely do I see any smokers, and I am assuming with smoking bans, cessation programs — which CVS plans to roll out — and whatnot, it will be harder for smokers to find tobacco products. Do any of you smoke? What say you?

In political news: I appreciated this rebuttal to Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ rebuttal to the President’s State of the Union address last week. She happens to represent a district that is largely low-income and depends on government jobs, food stamps — and gasp! — “Obamacare” to survive. Are people really voting against their self interests or is voter turnout just low? What do you think?

In somewhat related news: I was mesmerized and haunted by these images of death row inmates’ parting words. This is must-see political art. Just scroll to the bottom of the story.

Book Review: Many thanks to fellow mom blogger Grace Hwang Lynch for this excellent and thoughtful review of Amy Chua’s nauseating new book on “model minorities.”